3 ms·

I'm guessing you are in the USA. How does one find an agent capable of giving more sophisticated advice on finances and the local market?

• poulsbohemian 4y ago
  None of this is exactly rocket surgery, but here’s the gist of what I try to do when I need to refer a client to someone in another market… Try to understand their business. Every agent should be able to explain their niche within a market and their unique value proposition. This is a straightforward way to separate the professional agent from the “accidental” agent. Speaking candidly, there are a lot of people who fall into the business chasing dollars who have a very limited range of skills. Unfortunately, you can make it in a lot of markets on personality, even if your clients are getting utterly screwed on all the things that actually count, IE: pricing, overall market analysis, negotiating, understanding local regulations (zoning, water, environmental, etc). Listen to how they describe their market. I was talking to a “top performer” in my market the other day who was still regurgitating the same story from a year ago about “low inventory” when in fact there’s more inventory at every price point than at any time in the past three years. I’m certainly if I had decided to challenge their statements that they would have had no idea how many properties are on the market and that have taken price cuts in the past 30 days. A lot of those top performers are really good at churning deals rather than actually serving their clients. And, they may do a lot of business because they are willing to work for a low commission: if they won’t even fight for their own commission, why should you believe they are going to work hard at the negotiating table for you? Finally, find someone who communicates with you in the way and at the pace you want. If you find it difficult to talk with them and to express what you need / get the info you need, it’s only going to get worse when you are in the middle of a transaction. Hope that’s useful!